Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a talking therapy that recognises that when we become distressed, we repeat patterns of thinking and behaviour, which maintain our difficulties. Through learning to recognise our unhelpful thoughts and behaviours we can then develop more flexible alternatives. This enables us to recover.

CBT provides a structured approach to talking about our difficulties and how we see ourselves, others and the world. This then stimulates opportunities to question our perspectives and behaviours, enabling changes in our mood. CBT is a short-term therapy with long-term effects. It focuses on helping people regain lost skills and developing new ones. This approach is the preferred treatment of choice for most mood disorders.

CBT recognises the importance of past experiences and focuses on what we learnt from them and how they impact on our life now.

CBT is the preferred treatment for anxiety and depression, but is not suitable for everyone.

CBT includes:

Anger management

Anxiety

Bereavement

Bipolar Disorder

Bullying

Depression

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

PAIN management

Phobias

Postnatal Depression

Psychosis

Relationship Difficulties

Trauma (PTSD)

Work stress and performance anxiety

National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE)

NICE guidelines recommend CBT as the treatment of choice for the majority of mood disorders.

It is proven to help people overcome their distress and reduce the risk of future episodes.

NICE guidance: CBT is the “preferred treatment for depression and anxiety. For mild depression medication is not recommended but CBT is. For moderate to severed depressive episodes a combination of medication and CBT is recommended.

Related Therapies

ACT recognises that it is impossible to always be happy. And if it is our goal to always be so, them we are constantly going to be falling short of how we feel we should be. It is not possible to have a life without some suffering, as the full range of emotions are part of our natural existence. We can become stuck in our past experiences of suffering or predictions of the future. ACT uses mindfulness to help us become present in the moment we are in, and help us identify our values so that we have a sense of direction and meaning. By being “in the now” we can accept those experiences and establish a commitment to living by our own values. This is achieved through enhancing flexibility in our thinking, how we see ourselves and how we see the world.

CFT focuses was originally developed for individuals who suffer high levels of shame and guilt, and for those of us who are highly self-critical. It is an approach which is heavily based on evolutionary psychology and evidence on how the brain works. It helps people to become more compassionate towards themselves as well as toward others. This results in increasing acceptance of ourselves and improving our emotional well-being.

EMDR helps people come to terms with frightening experiences from their past, so that the memories no longer cause distress. We can experience past memories as if they are happening now, and with the emotions and sensations which gripped us at the time. EMDR effectively helps the mind to reprocess these experiences so that the fear and sensations are overcome and no longer cause distress.

MBCT is an evidence based approach supported by N.I.C.E. for depression. It is designed for people with multiple experiences of depression who are at increased risk of further depressive episodes. It combines current research on mindfulness and cognitive therapy.

Systemic therapy recognises that we can all impact on each other, and when we become stuck in our distress those around us can become stuck with us. What we seek to do to help each other can actually back-fire and compound and increase distress.